


Desperate Deed

by boleyn13



Series: Act of desperation [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Betrayal, Civil War Elements, Consequences, Dark Loki, Loss of Trust, M/M, Origin Story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-28 07:23:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8436637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boleyn13/pseuds/boleyn13
Summary: Thanks to the power of magic the Winter Soldier is gone. Steve has his best friend back and Bucky has the chance to start over. Tony turns out to be the person he wants to start over with and since Steve wants them to be happy, he decides that some things are better left unsaid





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there, 
> 
> Just a short one shot. Me working through my anger issues when I read stuff like "Tony shouldn't have attacked Bucky. It wasn't really him that killed his parents. Bad Tony." The man watched his parents being brutally murdered. Cut him some slack.
> 
> Anyway - the murder itself is not the main problem. It's the breaking of trust and the fact that people (Steve) put Tony in situations that are just cruel and pretend that they only do it for him...
> 
> Have fun :D

It was madness. All about it and yet Steve was standing here, right behind Tony and Thor. Every fibre of his body was telling him to turn around and walk away, to tell them to call it off. There had to be another solution. One they hadn’t thought of yet.

But there wasn’t.

This was definitely the place they would go to. Steve was desperate in a way he had never been before. That was the reason why they had told him to stay here. Desperation wasn’t a good position to negotiate. Except that they weren’t going to negotiate. Everything about this was ugly and it made Steve sick, but if there was a chance to get Bucky back…

They had run out of options a long time ago. If this wasn’t going to work out, they would have to keep Bucky in his cell, locked away from the rest of the world to guarantee everybody’s safety.

No, that couldn’t be the end of it…

“Okay, you guys are waiting here. I’m going in alone.”

Thor and Steve both opened their mouths to protest, but Tony shushed them with a hand gesture. “Nope, no discussion. You’re in no condition to be in there and no offence, Thor… you’re not going to like this and if you are around… he might get the impression that I’m not being serious. So you guys stand back and I’m going to handle this… It’s my collar anyway.”

Steve didn’t want this, but he knew this was the only way to do it, so he grabbed Thor’s arm and nodded at Tony. “Alright, we’ll wait…”

Thor wasn’t pleased, but he let Steve pull him aside to watch the scene together with 10 highly armed SHIELD agents on a video screen.

Tony checked the portable repulsor on his hand before typing in a code that would open the Vibranium doors in front of him. Steve’s heart began hammering against his chest when Tony entered the cell and the door closed behind him, forcing them to rely on the video footage.

Nothing about the cell had changed, of course not. The white walls were still covered with dark runes that Thor and other Asgardians had carved into them. Except for them and the prisoner the room was empty.

“Made yourself at home, didn’t you?” Tony didn’t sound amused, but indeed cruel and Steve couldn’t fault him for that.

The small, haggard figure that was crouching in the corner raised his head to look at him. Although Steve wasn’t in the same room he thought he could feel the pure hatred that was radiating from Loki’s eyes. Now that he only had his eyes to convey an expression they had become even more intense.

Tony didn’t seem to care. “I’m not overly fond of your presence, so I’ll get straight to the point. We’ve got a job for you and you’ll do it without making a fuss.”

Loki was snarling, Steve was sure. His eyebrows were down and pulled together, the green of his eyes mere poison. If he could move he would have probably already ripped Tony’s throat out. Although Loki had been spending the last five months in this cell, unable to do any damage, Steve still felt nervous about Tony being so close to him. Judging the tensed atmosphere around him, the other agents felt the same.

Looking Loki up and down Tony stepped even closer, crouching down to be at the same height with him. “If that beautiful Vibranium muzzle wasn’t covering half of your face, you would be spitting in my face right now, am I right?”

Loki tried to lunch himself forward with a growl that was mostly muffled by said muzzle. The shackles around his wrist and ankles, which were through chains connected to the wall behind him, were keeping him in place. Clearly to Loki’s frustration, by the way his chest was rising and sinking Steve could tell that he was probably panting.

“By now you should know better, shouldn’t you?” Tony was raising one hand, letting his fingers slowly brush over the big, metallic collar that was wrapped around Loki’s neck. “Acting up around the man who designed and built this beauty? You know I can set it off anytime I feel like it. Not just when you’re trying to do some magic. I’m sure that’s an experience you want to avoid.”

Thor next to Steve was shifting around, clearly uncomfortable by Tony’s threat, but they knew that Thor wouldn’t do anything even if Tony decided to do what he had just said. Loki had fought them relentlessly and they had lost too many agents and too many civilians until they had finally been able to subdue him. Before they had made it to get him into this cell Loki had killed three more agents. Too much had happened and Loki had shed too much blood to deserve any better than what he was getting.

Loki didn’t move anymore, he was attacking Tony with his eyes though.

“Good, now that I have your attention…” Tony’s fingers were still on the collar, a constant threat. “You have to do something for us. A friend of ours got badly messed up by some evil guys. Almost as bad as you. We can’t do anything to help him, so you are going to do that.”

Steve swallowed softly, once again realising that this was madness.

Loki’s eyes widened, then instantly narrowed again and Tony was right, he would have spat venom and bile at him if he could. Those incredible sensitive microphones were even able to catch up to the huff which Loki uttered.

Tony raised an eyebrow and reacted quickly. Brutally his hand grabbed Loki by his hair, yanking his head back. “Listen, jackass, you owe us! You’ll continue to rot in this cell when we’re all long dead, because you fucking deserve it and it’s still not enough. So many of our friends and innocent people died because of you, so you should get way worse than you’re already getting. So this is what’s going to happen. We’re going to let you out of this cell for an hour or two and you are going to use your magic to fix what someone else has done. Don’t get any ideas, the collar stays on and how that’s going to work isn’t any of your business. You understand?”

Staring down at Loki Tony didn’t like what he saw, tightening his grip on his hair and Steve thought he could hear Loki moan. Everything about this was madness, but it was their only option.

“Listen, asshole, I don’t care if you want to do this or not. Don’t even start thinking about pulling some shit, because I will be there all the time with the remote control for my greatest invention right in my hand. You don’t get a choice here. You’ll be a good boy and do a nice thing for the first time in your fucking life, because if not…” Tony tapped the fingers of his free hand against the collar. “I’m going to play around if it, just for fun, without you doing anything to set it off. I can only imagine how painful the shock must be, but since you stopped trying to mess with it after two single times and you immediately lost consciousness each time… the pain must be agonizing. The burning pain searing along your nerves, the intense heat… you must be so grateful for that highly resistant body that actually lets you experience the pain before passing out. If you’re not going to do this for us, I am going to sit down behind a screen and press a button. Watching you squirm in agony and when you wake up again, I’ll do it again. Yeah, that’s torture and violates every human right possible, but you kept insisting that you are not human, so you won’t mind, right?”

It was wrong, because Tony didn’t have a cruel bone in his body and Steve doubted that he would do what he had just said…. But there were other people around here. So many people who had lost friends and loved ones because of Loki. Several of them would be glad to push that button. And Thor wouldn’t stop them…

“I hope we’re on the same page now, Reindeer Games. What’s it going to be? Are you going to help us or do I have to put you through the worst pain imaginable, because both is fine with me.” Tony looked at Loki expectantly and green, hateful eyes were staring back at him.

 ***

“This is wrong, we can’t risk this He’s going to hurt him or try to escape… We can’t.” Steve’s eyes followed every one of Loki’s movements while the god was moved into the cell.

Tony next to him snorted. “He can’t teleport. One try and the collar is going to knock him out.”

“But you have to shut it off, so he can… help Bucky. Nothing’s going to stop him from...”

“Cap, calm down. I’m not shutting the collar off, I’m just switching to manual. He’s not going to get automatically shocked if he’s using his magic. We got the shackles with the runes that Thor brought from Asgard, they’ll stop him from using aggressive or violent forms of magic. He said the only problem is that they need a lot of energy and they won’t be able to use them again after this stunt, but we don’t need to anyway. He’s not in good shape, he can’t put up a physical fight. I made perfectly clear what’s going to happen if he tries anything. Believe me, the collar was designed to put him through a hell lot of pain and he won’t risk any more of it. Look, I know you’re worrying about your friend, but we’re running out of options, Cap. We have tried every therapy known to mankind, none of the old Hydra files are able to help us. If this isn’t going to work… none of us wants Barnes to spend the rest of his days locked up in a cell, because we can’t find a way to help him. But if you think we shouldn’t do it… we’re not going to do it. You know we’ve run out of options…” Tony gently reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

Biting his lip Steve slowly nodded, because he knew Tony was right. Since the day they had taken Bucky into custody, Steve hadn’t been able to talk to him. Bucky only reacted with hostility, his face blank and his eyes full of hatred, wrapping his hands around Steve’s throat to kill him. He showed the same reaction towards anyone, Steve couldn’t see a single glimpse of his former friend, just a mere killing machine that was acting out orders. Killing his enemies. The Avengers.

Because of that they had restrained him, strapped him to table with Vibranium shackles and since that moment Steve hadn’t spent a single moment not searching for a way to break Hydra’s grip on his best friend. Everybody else on the team had been supportive, helping as best as they could, but Steve could tell while he was getting more and more desperate to never get Bucky back, they were getting frustrated. Steve could feel that they were about to give him up, to only ever think of him as the Winter Solider. A Hydra asset with no mind of his own.

It wasn’t like Steve didn’t understand. They had tried everything. Head scans, hypnosis, showing him photographs of his old life, Steve sitting down and talking to him… Nothing. Bucky was still sneering at him, twisting his hands in his shackles to get free and attack him.

Then Thor had come up with an idea that could only be described as magic. Half a year ago they had managed the impossible and had caught Loki. Not without losses. A big number of losses. They had locked him away in a cell created especially for him, combining the world’s finest tech and Asgardian magic to contain him. All of them had hoped that they would now be able to forget about him. Until Thor had claimed that his brother might be able break the chains Hydra had wrapped around Bucky’s mind.

Everybody had protested, Clint had even called Thor crazy and Steve first reaction had been similar. Tony had been the only one who had been willing to listen, then they had sat down and discussed things. Steve had rejected their arguments, because there was no way he would let Loki touch Bucky.

Until Bucky had almost got loose and fought his way through several lines of agents. They had barely been able to subdue him and Steve had realised that Bucky in this state was too dangerous. It wasn’t just about him getting his best friend back, but about everybody’s safety. They had to do something.

Magic was something new, something they couldn’t offer and Steve just wanted Bucky back. So much more than he was being scared of Loki.

Now they were here, in the cell, Steve, Tony and Thor. All three of them ready to intervene if something should go wrong. Which seemed very likely.

Steve swallowed softly and watched with attentive eyes as the two agents, dressed in heavy gear, dragging Loki towards the table Bucky was strapped on. If this went wrong, if he hurt…

“Don’t worry, Steve. I got this.” Tony shot him a short smile then his expression instantly hardened and he walked over to him. “Now just to make this clear – you try something that looks fishy to us, I’ll shock you into the next century. You hurt him, I hurt you and it’s not going to stop there. It’s going to be nothing but pain. You help him and you get to go back to your cell and we leave you alone. Do we understand each other?”

Tony quietly hissed those words at Loki who was looking at him intently, his eyes not hiding a bit of his disdain. Then they darted to Bucky and Steve almost snapped. How could they believe that this…

Loki turned back and slowly nodded. The only expressive part of his face told them that he hated it and that should reassure Steve a little bit. Just think about the shackles and the runes. No, Loki wouldn’t be able to hurt him. The worst thing that could happen was that Loki couldn’t do anything to help him.

“Good. Just a last warning, I’m going to adjust the collar, so you can work your magic. But it will stay on. The runes stop you from teleporting, but if you are nonetheless playing the thought… You could be anywhere, the collar is still going to work and we can locate it and if you disappear, I’ll use it’s full strength… then we can find out if you’re god enough to survive it.”

With that Tony left the room, they had decided that it was best that he wasn’t present, since he was going to be the one to control the collar with the remote. That left four armed agents, Thor and Steve.

And Bucky…

Who looked up at him, obviously identifying him as a hostile despite the muzzle, the collar and the shackles which clearly showed that Loki was also a prisoner. Not saying a word Bucky carefully watched Loki, his lips a thin line and Steve was still distraught by that expression. It had nothing to do with his best friend. Bucky had been all smiles, joyful, not out for blood.

After staring down at his hands Loki slowly lifted them and Steve forced himself to focus on the shackles with the runes on them. Loki wasn’t going to hurt Bucky. He couldn’t.

Nevertheless Steve had to fight himself to not storm forward when Loki put his hand on Bucky’s forehead who instantly started trashing around, snarling fiercely “Get your hands off me!”

Steve felt the need to step in, but he did his best to not move while Loki put his other hand on Bucky’s chest to stop him from moving. Thor next to him must have noticed Steve’s distress. “The Winter Soldier should try to hold still. The process is going to be painful.”

“What are you… ahh!”

Bucky started screaming and Thor grabbed Steve’s arm to stop him from tearing Loki away from him. “No. My brother knows he is doing.”

Steve didn’t care, all he heard were Bucky’s screams in agony and all he saw was the green light glowing beneath Loki’s hand, illuminating Bucky’s forehead. Bucky was twisting and trashing around in his bounds and Steve couldn’t stand it. “Stop it!”

Then things went horribly wrong and it happened to fast to do anything about it.

The shackle which had been able to hold Bucky back for the last weeks was suddenly torn off the table Bucky was lying on. The now free metal arm reached out, metal fingers trying to wrap themselves around Loki’s throat. Thanks to the collar they couldn’t, so he instead fisted his fingers in Loki’s worn out shirt.

“Shit!”

They rushed towards Loki and Bucky, the latter was staring at the Asgardian with wide eyes. “Who are you?”

Steve stopped dead in his tracks, not able to move anymore. That wasn’t the Winter Soldier. No menace to be found his voice, no anger. Just confusion. Even his eyes suddenly seemed completely different. He barely dared to say it, too afraid he would be disappointed. “Bucky?”

Instantly turning his head Bucky looked at him, his hand letting go of Loki who took a step back and was instantly grabbed by the agents. For the first time since 1944 saw his best friend, he was looking right at him. “Steve? What… what happened?”

If his life had depended on it, Steve wouldn’t have been able to answer this question. Not now, he merely wanted wrap his arms around Bucky and never let him go. So Steve just did that.

Steve couldn’t remember feeling such an intense kind of happiness. This was Bucky and it had only taken seconds. Now Steve wouldn’t let go of him anymore. That nightmare was behind them and he would try his best to help Bucky to cope with all…

Somebody was clearing their throat behind them, sounding suspiciously like Tony. “So, uhm, you want to introduce us, Cap?”

 ***

The adjustment process was hard and painful, but the fact that there was an adjustment process at all was a miracle. Steve had never been happier. A statement so easy to make. He had his best friend back, a part of his old life which he had thought to be lost forever. At first Bucky had been reluctant, scared even. Suddenly free from voices who told him what to do, only living for the next mission and then having every memory of it ripped from his mind. Now Bucky was barely able to meet his eyes and yet he didn’t want to be around other people than Steve. A task that Steve would gladly take on.

Steve was always there to make it easier for him or at least he tried to. It was important though to have other people to support him. Not just Bucky’s old friend, but new ones. To show him that not everybody was afraid of him. This was where Tony entered the picture. His quirky and flashy personality was exactly what they needed. Another outlook, not somebody who was taking things too seriously.

From the moment Loki had brought Bucky back Tony had treated him like he was one of them, completely normal, not trying to cuddle him and it seemed to be exactly what Bucky needed. After that everybody else quickly warmed up to him and Steve saw the first smile on Bucky’s face. The sight filled Steve with so much joy that he didn’t even think about what exactly had evoked that smile.

Steve felt like he was back at home, he was happy and the pieces were falling back in place. And with them Steve felt more and more at ease in this time and age. Sure, he had found new friends and a new home, but with Bucky here Steve had the most important part of his previous life back. Somebody who had got to know him as Steve – not as Captain America.

“Steve, I don’t know about this.” Bucky just stopped, standing in the middle of the hallway and that look on his face was something entirely new. How many times had Steve seen Bucky being scared? Never?

“There is no reason to be worried, Buck. Tony knows this stuff better than anybody else. He’ll help.”

His words didn’t change a thing, Bucky only seemed to be about to make a step back. “I don’t think I should be around him. Or anybody else…”

It hurt to hear him say that and Steve realised once again that erasing the Hydra control was not enough. Bucky had been declared of innocent of what he had been doing, because he was. None of it had been his choice, nor had he been willing to do any of it. That didn’t mean that Bucky wasn’t feeling guilty about it and they couldn’t just make that feeling go away.

“Hey, you didn’t want any of this… everybody knows that and everybody wants to help you. Today we can do something about the arm. Let us help you, Buck, we’re all on your side. I know Tony can be… overwhelming the first time you meet him, but he is a great guy and he made it possible that you’re here with us. Everybody just wants to help. You just gotta let them.” Steve smiled and he could see Bucky’s resolve weakening. “It’ll be alright…”

Steve was completely sure of that. Bucky was innocent and they had broken Hydra’s grip on him. The worst was definitely behind them. After another moment of hesitation Bucky nodded and continued to follow him down the hall to the lab.

Tony had been talking about giving Bucky an upgrade for quite a while, but Bucky had been cautious. He didn’t want anybody to touch his arm, but as everybody knew Tony could be quite adamant. Steve had explained to Bucky that it was a good idea, nobody was better with advanced technology than Tony Stark. Steve was glad that Bucky now allowed Tony to take a look at it, since it was a sign of trust which meant that Bucky was opening up to other people. Baby steps.

The arm turned out to be one of the most fascinating things that Tony had ever worked on, at least he claimed so. “Can’t believe any of these Hydra idiots was able to create something like this.”

Looking up at Bucky Tony winked at him and Steve’s best friend was instantly sheepishly lowering his eyes. Something happened to Steve then and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. A feeling of unease settling in the back of his neck, making him feel uncomfortable. Something was bothering him and he couldn’t tell what it was. Yet suddenly it was hard to just stand next to them and watch Tony’s finger examine Bucky’s arm.

“Okay… the motoric abilities are pretty amazing… considering that they made this in the 40s… but they didn’t care a lot about it being comfortable, right? It’s freaking cold. How do you sleep with it? Bury it beneath the pillows? It’s so fucking cold, it must wake you up…”

Bucky still wouldn’t look at Tony, but he nodded softly. “I have trouble sleeping…”

“We’ll take care of that… I won’t be able to fix it today, but if you let me work on it regularly, I’m sure I can do more than just heating it up. Making it feel like a part of you, not just a piece of metal that they put on you.”

“Thank you…”

Tony shot them a cocky grin and for a fleeting second he looked exactly like Howard and Steve knew what was causing him to feel such unease.

 ***

Steve lay awake an entire night, thinking about what to do now. If he should tell Tony. During their search for Bucky and then during their search for a cure… the thought had never crossed Steve’s mind. It had been a constant rush of fear and then Steve had been too happy to think about the other consequences of Bucky’s return. There had been no time…

Rolling over Steve discarded that thought, because it wasn’t true. There had been time, but Steve hadn’t dared to say anything. For multiple reasons. It would have caused Tony pain. Losing your parents to some natural disaster had to be easier to accept than knowing that they had been murdered. Steve couldn’t bear the thought of his friends looking at Bucky and only thinking of him as… a murderer. It wouldn’t matter that it hadn’t been his fault, nor his choice. Killing somebody they had a connection to…

It was horrible.

There was yet another reason that Steve barely wanted to admit to himself. Tony had been essential in finding Bucky and in… helping him. No, Steve didn’t doubt that Tony would have understood, that he would have seen that Bucky was innocent. After all, he saw it now. Tony was smiling at Bucky every time he saw him, making his usual jokes that Bucky didn’t get and he didn’t treat him differently from everybody else. Tony knew that Bucky was innocent.

So why hadn’t Steve told him? It would have been painful for all of them, but Tony wouldn’t have refused to help him… He wouldn’t have. Steve was 99% sure of that and that 1% had been enough for him to remain silent.

Did it make any difference now? Bucky’s record had been cleared. The Winter Soldier didn’t exist anymore. He was gone. Forever. The man who had committed these crimes and the organisation which had made him do it had ceased to exist.

There was nothing to gain anymore. No closure, because Tony had had it a long time ago and Bucky… Steve didn’t know if he could even remember, he doubted it since Bucky had said that most of his actions as the Winter Soldier were nothing but a blur.

If he remembered Howard, he would have said something. Both of them had known him, worked with him. If Bucky didn’t remember, which was very likely, Steve didn’t want to add another wound to his soul. Bucky was already trying to deal with his past every single day, it was a constant fight and Steve couldn’t imagine telling him that Hydra had made the Winter Soldier kill one of their friends.

Tony’s father…

All that could come from this was more pain. Hurting people who had been hurt enough and who didn’t deserve any of this.

 ***

Things got more normal with every passing day. Routines got established. One morning Steve wondered into the kitchen, finding that Bucky had been the first awake and had prepared coffee for everyone. Clint was very vocal about his approval that at least one person in the tower could make decent coffee.

Steve and Bucky did their daily morning work-out together and sometimes they crossed path with Tony who exiting his lab during the early hours to get into bed. Every time he shot them a short grin, muttering something about ‘early birds being insane’.

Natasha and Bucky only spoke Russian during breakfast, driving Clint crazy and Bruce was friends with anybody who didn’t talk with him about the Hulk. They established something like a routine and Steve admittedly liked it. It was something he had wanted for such a long time. Bucky being part of his life and everybody else accepting this as perfectly normal.

Almost everything was working out better than he had ever imagined. Except for that one thought that sometimes wouldn’t let him sleep.

Then Tony found a way to heat up the cold metal of Bucky’s arm. Bucky was so amazed about the result that he insisted on Steve touching his now warm arm, a joyful smile on his lips.

A few days later a terrorist attack took place in DC and the Avengers took Bucky along with them. Despite Steve’s worries Bucky integrated himself perfectly into the team, fighting beside them as if he had never done anything different. It was almost impossible to think that they had fought each other just a few weeks ago.

They saved a lot of people, tracked down a terrorist cell and made sure they would never hurt somebody again and they did it together. At the end of the day Tony taught Bucky how to do a fist bump to celebrate their accomplishment and Steve put those lingering thoughts away.

Where was the point in this? Bucky couldn’t remember, it hadn’t been really him who had done this, they had declared him innocent and for once everybody seemed content, downright happy. There was no reason to change this.

 ***

Knowing now what Tony could do with the arm Bucky began spending so much time in Tony’s lab, it was the first place to look for him if you wanted to talk to him.

On a Thursday afternoon Steve did just that, was lost in thought when he walked up to the lab, but he was brought back to reality in a more abrupt way than he would have liked to.

The doors slid open in front of him and Steve felt like falling off a building. Seeing Bucky sitting on that working bench and kissing Tony was the last thing he had expected and it wiped every thought off his mind.

Okay, this was definitely a new development…

Steve was frozen to a spot, staring at them and with every second it became more awkward. This wasn’t a first kiss. Their bodies seemed way too comfortable, too familiar with this situation and Steve had to clear his throat when Tony’s hand came up to settle in Bucky’s neck, seemingly pulling him closer. Luckily that was enough to make them pull apart.

“Geez, Cap… what happened to your manners? You’re supposed to knock before entering a room. You might walk in on two people doing private stuff.” The grin on Tony’s face was just as pleased as smug.

To be honest Steve still felt like somebody had hit him around the head with a baseball bat, but slowly the realisation was sinking in that this was a good thing. Weird. Definitely the weirdest event that was going to happen in his life, but nonetheless a good thing. Two of his friends. Together. Finding some happiness. If it was something serious… neither of them was particularly known for…

“Fuck, Steve. Don’t just stand there. Get out!”

Blinking in confusion Steve stared at them and Bucky was also smiling at his dilemma. Weird. “Oh, right. Sorry. Sure. See you later.”

Turning around on his heels Steve fled from the scene, still seeing the mental image of what he had just witnessed. This was a good thing, right? Steve definitely hoped so, but he couldn’t deny that he was completely taken aback. The two of them together was something Steve would have never imagined and after this glimpse he wasn’t even sure what he had seen.

Well, he had been so happy that Bucky had started to settle in and get comfortable. Steve hadn’t expected him to hook up with Tony. Could this even be something serious? With Tony one could never be sure… and Bucky didn’t have the best reputation when it came down to relationships either. They’d have to talk about that… as soon as Steve was capable of forming sentences again.

 ***

It was something serious. Two days later Bucky and Tony didn’t use the lab anymore to share some kisses. They did it everywhere. Not excessively, no. Not shoving it in anyone’s face, but clearly not hiding either. Bucky was smiling all the time now and Tony seemed calmer, balanced even and Steve found it so hard to not be overjoyed with this newest development.

There was no real explanation, just a complete shift in their behaviour. Suddenly there were little touches, their hands lingering on each other’s bodies a little bit too long to be of merely friendly intent. Then one day Bucky wasn’t sleeping next door to Steve anymore, but in Tony’s bedroom.

Steve tried to have a conversation about it, but that attempt turned out to be completely in vain. Tony merely laughed, patted him on the shoulder and said “We’re two big boys, Cap. We’re perfectly able to handle each other.”

Luckily Bucky was a little more talkative in private with Steve. A smile was still lingering on his face, almost permanent now. “I know, right? He’s… I like him. It feels good to be with him and… I didn’t think I’d ever have anything like this… especially after the Winter Soldier.”

Honest and raw words that filled Steve with so much happiness, because he didn’t want anything but the best for Bucky. A calm, fulfilled life with whoever he wanted to share it with. If he had decided that this person would be Tony, Steve was totally fine with it. There was just one thing in the back of his mind. Nagging, stinging, no matter how hard Steve tried to push it away. “That’s great, really. Tony’s a good guy. I’m happy for you.”

“But? Come on, Steve. I know you better than anybody else and I can see that you biting your tongue.”

No, Steve didn’t want to say it. Everything could be perfectly fine. Why should Steve risk destroying it? Especially when talking about it would help nobody. It would only cause harm.

“Steve?” Bucky was looking at him, expectantly, counting on him to be the one who will always tell him the truth. After a life full of lies and deceit.

“Do you… remember anything about…” There was no point in continuing. Within a second the smile vanished, wiped off Bucky’s face. “Please, don’t…”

So Steve didn’t, because it would only destroy things and Bucky deserved better.

 *** 

Pepper somehow convinced Tony to go on a business trip and since Bucky wasn’t joining him Steve was curious to see how they’d deal with that first separation.

Tony called two times a day, morning and evening. Usually around dinner time, so there was a strong chance that Steve was around when Bucky’s eyes lit up as soon as his phone rang. Every time Bucky whispered a soft “Hey” into his phone and how incredibly happy he sounded.

The initial thought that seeing them together would be weird was quickly gone and when Tony was back it only seemed natural that they would instantly be all over each other. Natural and weird. They were Steve’s friends, it would never be not weird.

Nonetheless they quickly settled into a routine. Tony and Bucky shared a room, whoever was the first one in the kitchen made the other a cup of coffee and after they were done fighting whatever villain there was the obligatory “You were awesome, babe”.

To put it simple – life was good.

Steve had got pretty much everything he wanted. His best friend was back, integrated, happy, free from Hydra’s clutches, their biggest enemy was in a cell, unable to get out and it didn’t sound wrong to call the Avengers his family.

Yeah, Steve was happy. It hit him even harder when everything crumbled to pieces. Impossible to be put back together.

 ***

It started with a loud noise. Something Steve was way too familiar with. A wall being blown apart. In the tower? Who could…

There was no time to think, so Steve and everybody else just started running, following the sounds of a fight. What they found seemed to freeze the blood in Steve’s veins. Something that didn’t make any sense.

Bucky was lying on the floor between the rubble of the wall, bleeding from his temple and there was Tony. His hand covered in one of the gauntlet of his suit, his shoulders were shaking softly and his eyes were filled with madness. Even though it was obvious it took Steve several seconds to understand. Tony had attacked Bucky.

“Have you lost your mind? What did you do!?”

Rushing to Bucky’s side Steve reached out to help him back on his feet.

“He killed them!”

Tony’s voice was shaking too and the realisation slowly sunk in, dread was spreading inside of Steve’s chest. “No, he…”

“He killed my parents!” Tony was screaming and Steve could see Thor and Clint wince. Natasha didn’t bat an eyelid.

Without Steve’s support Bucky got back up and Tony’s hand followed his every move, ready to fire again instantly. “Tony, please, just…”

“You killed them!”

Steve saw the light and immediate jumped, bringing his shield between Bucky and the blast, not able to believe that Tony had just done that. “Stop it! You are…”

There were no words to describe what Steve was seeing. Tony’s pupils were blown, looking as if he was on drugs, his features contorted by anger and his lips baring his gritted teeth. Steve had never seen him like this. Out of control, not knowing what he was doing.

“Get out of the way!”

“No, Tony, you don’t know what you are…”

“You knew!” The yelling sounded similar to a sob and the accusation was cutting deep. “You knew that he killed them! He crushed my father’s skull! He broke my mother’s neck! He murdered them!”

No, Bucky hadn’t killed them. Tony was so smart, he needed, he had to understand that. It hadn’t been Bucky. “It wasn’t his fault. He was under Hydra’s control. He had no idea what he was doing.”

Every word seemed to ignite a fire in Tony’s eyes which was about to consume him. This wasn’t him. Then suddenly the anger turned into something else. Raw, untamed and dark. Desperation. “He touched me with it. He touched me with the hand he killed my mother with and you let him. You didn’t say anything.”

Steve missed the moment to respond and Tony fired again.

“Please, don’t…”

“Tony, he’s innocent! You know that!”

“He killed them!”

Right now Tony wouldn’t stop. He was mad, he would not stop until he had killed Bucky and Steve would never let that happen. So he threw his shield, Natasha used her bites and Thor tackled him. All at the same time. Immense relief came over Steve when his friends were all there to protect Bucky.

“Easy, Tony. Easy. You got to calm down.” Clint was pushing against Tony’s shoulders, keeping him on the ground, while Natasha was ramming a knife into the repulsor of the gauntlet, disabling it.

“Let go of me!”

“Calm down, you don’t…”

“He killed my parents and Steve knew! All this time and you knew!”

Steve hoped that they would be able to calm him down, that Tony would realise how crazy he was acting. That didn’t happen. Tony kept struggling, trying to get free from their grip, his eyes fixed on Bucky. Burning with hatred.

 ***

While talking to Fury to was about to get violent, so they had two agents keeping him in check, only fuelling his anger. “I want him a cell! He murdered my parents!”

“For the last time, Stark…” Fury sounded more annoyed than anything. “You know that Barnes is not to blame. He was under Hydra’s control. I feel terribly sorry for your loss and that you had to learn about it this way, but you have to realise that the anger that you’re feeling isn’t justified.”

It was the wrong thing to say, Tony almost got out of the grip of the agents. “What?! He murdered them! Steve knew! Natasha knew and nobody said a word! Instead he let me help to find a fucking cure of him.”

“And we did find it. Now Barnes is perfectly in control again, innocent. I’m sorry, Stark, but you can’t put the murderer of your parents into prison. He’s already dead. The Winter Soldier is dead.”

“So you are going to let him walk away, because…”

Fury moaned. “Give me a break. You knew about the Winter Soldier and that there are over fifty confirmed kills. Until now you didn’t seem to make him responsible for them. You didn’t try to kill him or to lock him up. You made him your boyfriend.”

A hard truth and Tony visibly snapped. “I didn’t know! I had no clue, because you had this information and didn’t share it with me! If Jarvis hadn’t found the files, I still wouldn’t…”

“Because it doesn’t make a difference. I know you don’t want to hear that, but the murderer of your parents is gone. You are accusing an innocent man who seems to care a lot about you. Captain Rogers really stood up for you, so there will be no consequences for you for trying to kill another member of the Avengers. Talk to a therapist and…”

“Fuck you. All of you. Let me go, I am out of here.”

The agents checked with Fury and then indeed let him go, Tony stormed out of the room. Steve instantly turned away from the observation screen, leaving the room to catch up with Tony in the hallway.

“Tony!”

“Stay away, you’re making me sick!”

“Tony, please…”

Turning around Tony glared at him, hands balled into fists and shaking. “I was trying to help you! For your friend and you didn’t say anything! You just stood there. Let me fall for him. You watched how I repaired his arm… The arm…” Tony winced, he was visibly gagging and for a second Steve feared that he was about to throw up. “I touched it… not knowing. I let him touch me with it and you knew. You didn’t say a word.”

“I didn’t want to hurt you and you were happy. Fury is right, you know that. It wasn’t Bucky. It was the Winter Soldier.”

Tony let his head fall back, a laugh was escaping his lips that was so joyless it caused Steve to shiver. “You know… that would have actually meant something. If you had told me. It probably would have been different. But you didn’t tell me… because my parents don’t matter. Howard doesn’t matter. I don’t matter. Do you know how that feels? To have repaired the hand that squeezed the life out of my mother? To make him feel more comfortable with it. Can you imagine how it feels to know that the hand that killed your parents has been touching you in ways that… only a person you love should. A person you trust…”

Lowering his eyes Steve whispered a single sentence, knowing it wouldn’t be enough. “I am sorry.”

“No, you aren’t. But you will be.”

 ***

The call came in the middle of the night. Fury was shouting, barely comprehensible. Then Jarvis wouldn’t respond to any of their questions and only a look into his bedroom confirmed that Tony was gone and Steve shook his head. No, that simply wasn’t possible.

All of the Avengers settled down in front of a TV screen, watching the security footage that Fury had sent them. Four camera angles were shown at the same time.

The door was slowly being opened and a dark figure slowly strolled in. The way he moved immediately told all of them that it was Tony.

Loki, sitting in corner, raised his head to look at him. The incredible sensitive microphones caught something like a muffled hiss. Tony didn’t seem to bother, the door closed behind him and he did a look around before reaching in the pocket of his jacket. He pulled out a small object that Steve couldn’t quite make out, but then Tony started using it.

“What is he doing?” Thor mumbled in disbelief and Steve could only stare in shock.

Tony was crossing out the runes on the wall with the help of spray can. Ever so slowly he was making his way across the room until most of the runes had been disfigured and their power broken. Casually dropping the can to the floor Tony walked up to Loki stopping right in front of him.

Instantly the prisoner jerked forward, wanting to throw himself at Tony, but the chains yanked him back against the wall. Acting as if that attempt to attack him had never happened Tony stared down at him. Loki met his gaze with the most unshielded disdain imaginable. The fact that only his eyes were visible made it even worse. He would kill Tony on the spot if he could.

“Yeah, I know you hate me. You have every reason to. I was treating you like shit… because you deserve it.”

Loki twisted in his shackles, making the chains rattle.

“SHIELD’s acting like it was their great magnum opus to capture you. The most amazing plan put into action. You and me both know that it was mostly dumb luck. You killed so many and you always walked away easily… You had this coming for a long time. Because you are a monster.” Tony sighed and Loki moved slightly, his hatred too intense to let him stop trying.

“But lucky for you… I need a monster.”

Loki froze.

God, no…

Crouching down Tony stopped when he was at eye level with Loki, reaching out and running his fingers down the side of the muzzle to the collar around Loki’s neck. Ignoring Loki’s wince Tony curled his fingers around it. “Definitely one of my finest works… I always liked to think that it isn’t my talent to create things that cause pain, but… Well, you would probably disagree.”

Please, don’t. No, he couldn’t…

“I know how this is going to work out for me. Bad. You want to rip my throat out and I can see why… You’ll most likely kill me as soon as I take that thing off.”

Steve felt everybody around him drawing closer, not daring to breathe.

Loki narrowed his eyes at Tony, clearly not trusting his words, maybe waiting to be shocked by the collar.

“Here’s my offer… I will let you out of here. Take off that collar and you can leave. As soon as it’s off… I know I’m at your mercy. I need your help. I got betrayed by the people I thought were my friends. In the worst possible way…” Tony stopped for a moment, lowering his eyes while Loki wasn’t looking away. “I got hurt, humiliated and betrayed. I was lied to… You claimed the same thing. Hell, you’re probably full of shit, but I just learned that you can’t trust anybody, so maybe you are right and Thor is the dirtbag in this story. I don’t care, you can all go to hell… I just want them to burn and I can’t do it alone. I need your help to do that.”

Tony, please, don’t…

“You get out of here and then you’ll help me to make them pay. I’ll gladly play your rules, you can call the shots. I only care about the results…” Sighing softly Tony let go of the collar. “Shouldn’t have tested this thing quite so often on you, right? It was fun watching you feel the pain that you’ve caused us… So if you want to get back at me for that, I understand. The collar is coming off anyway.”

He was insane…

“Because there are only two ways this is going to end. Either you will help me or you’ll kill me. If you kill me… I know it’s only a question of time till you seek out everybody who had a part in you ending up in this cell, wearing that collar. Like a dog. I’ll get what I want either way. Just keep one thing in mind… I made that thing. I can create other things to cause pain and this time they wouldn’t be used on you. You would be using them. All I want is seeing the Avengers burn…”

Tilting his head Loki kept staring at Tony and Steve was praying although he knew how this would end. The footage was over an hour old.

Once again Tony reached into his jacket, pulling out a little remote control. Steve couldn’t even react to that, because Tony was already pressing a button. No effect was visible, but suddenly all of the tension was leaving Loki’s body, his shoulders were slumping, his head dropping a little bit. Reaching around Tony’s fingers touched the backside of the collar and whatever he was doing caused it to… simply fall off.

The change was remarkable. Loki’s back straightened, his wrists were starting to glow in intense green light and the shackles around them melted away. With his now freed hands Loki crushed the cuffs around his ankles and then he stood up.

Tony didn’t bother to move, he merely looked up at Loki, waiting for his decision. Whatever it might be. With one single gesture Loki tore the muzzle of his face and sucked in a deep breath of air. Eventually his green eyes focused on Tony. A cold glare that they all knew so well.

Steve also knew that smile that suddenly started to spread across Loki’s face. The madness. Two words passed his lips. They sounded joyful which made them allthemore daunting.

“I accept.”

Long, lean finger, pale as snow, shot forward and grabbed Tony’s shoulder. Green light engulfed them and they vanished.


End file.
